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Count Ferdinand von Harrach

1763–1841

Born
17 Mar 1763, Vienna
Country of birth
Habsburg monarchy, today Austria
Died
5 Dec 1841, Dresden
facts
5
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

  • Birth17 Mar 1763, ViennaProbable1 source
  • Death5 Dec 1841, DresdenProbable1 source

A life in time

  1. Born · Vienna

    Birth, Vienna

  2. Child born: Auguste von Harrach

    Birth, Dresden

  3. Died · Dresden

    Death, Dresden

What was it like?

The world around Vienna, 1763: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Count was born around the same time as Emma, Lady Hamilton, Valentino Fioravanti, and Gregory XVI.

Born around the same time

  • Emma, Lady Hamilton

    1765 · Mistress of Lord Nelson (1765-1815)

  • Valentino Fioravanti

    1764 · Italian composer (1764-1837)

  • Gregory XVI

    1765 · Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846 (1765–1846)

  • William IV

    1765 · King of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 1830 to 1837

  • Robert Fulton

    1765 · American engineer and inventor (1765–1815)

  • Nicéphore Niépce

    1765 · French inventor and photographer (1765-1833)

Fashion

Cleanliness as a mark of respectability

By the mid-eighteenth century, even people in lower wealth tiers in Vienna typically owned enough shirts and shifts to change them at least twice a week. Clean white linen was considered the standard for judging personal morality and respectability.

Everyday versus festive fabric quality

Ordinary people in Tyrol distinguished between everyday and feast day attire by the quality of the fabric, wearing blouses made of coarse linen for daily work and finer linen for holidays.

Music

Ceremonial Brass and Percussion Instruments

Trumpets and timpani were essential instruments used for state ceremonies, church processions, and official announcements, often serving to capture public attention in city squares.

The Ländler and Early Viennese Waltz

Around 1750, the Ländler, also known as the Schleifer, served as a popular country dance for couples and provided the foundation for the later Viennese waltz.

Getting around

Coach vs. rail time (Vienna–Graz)

When rail travel was available, a journey from Vienna to Graz took nine hours, while a post coach took twenty-nine hours on the same route.

Foot travel: 20–35 km daily

In the Habsburg lands, poorer people who could not afford a horse or a stagecoach typically traveled on foot, covering about 20–35 km per day.

Daily life

Shared urban living in cramped quarters

For ordinary residents, homes were often cramped rented rooms in multi-story buildings where daily tasks like cooking, sleeping, and working were all performed in the same limited space. Families relied on neighborhood wells and fountains for water and had to manage heating through tiled stoves that required constant attention.

Food

Affordable coffee substitute for the poor

Poorer residents drank a substitute for coffee made from roasted barley sweetened with syrup, which cost only 1 Kreuzer for a cup and a roll.

Common refreshment for poor women

Poor women who could not afford wine often drank water mixed with vinegar to quench their thirst.

Prices and wages
Around 1755–1755

Jewelry cost 307 gulden in 1755

A gold smith received 307 gulden for jewelry for a wedding in 1755, demonstrating the high cost of luxury items in the mid-18th century.

Around 1755–1755

Wedding music cost 33 gulden in 1755

In 1755, a wealthy merchant family paid 33 gulden for music for a wedding, which is equivalent to a significant luxury expense compared to everyday food costs.

Work

Combining multiple occupations for survival

Workers often combined multiple jobs, such as bricklaying in summer and weaving in winter, or day-laboring alongside small-scale farming.

Common roles in 18th-century Vienna

Ordinary life depended on roles like bakers, washerwomen, coachmen, seamstresses, masons, and day laborers who moved goods through the city.

News and letters

Itinerant messengers as community legs

Since few people could read or write, itinerant workers such as pedlars and students were known as the legs of the community for carrying messages by word of mouth.

During their lifetime

  1. 1766

    State monopolies on consumer goods introduced

    A new tax and excise ordinance in 1766 created state monopolies on items including tobacco, coffee, and porcelain.

  2. 1770

    Migration during the 1770-71 famine

    During the great famines of 1770–71, peasants from other parts of Germany migrated to Prussia where food supplies were more accessible.

  3. 1781

    Abolition of Serfdom Controls in 1781

    In 1781, Emperor Joseph II issued the Serfdom Patent, granting peasants the legal right to marry, move, and seek education without lordly permission.

  4. 1781

    Religious Toleration Patent of 1781

    The 1781 Patent of Toleration granted religious freedom and legal equality to Lutherans, Calvinists, and Serbian Orthodox Christians.

  5. 1784

    Centralized Hospital Opened in 1784

    The Allgemeines Krankenhaus opened in Vienna in 1784 to centralize medical care and provide free treatment for the poor.

  6. 1785

    Certified Medical Staff Decree of 1785

    In 1785, the Emperor decreed that every community must have a state-certified midwife and doctor to prevent epidemics.

Family

Spouses

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.